Continuing the onslaught of free music this summer: The brand-new Beach Party Music Series begins July 10 and runs every Sunday through August 14 at the South Street Seaport's Beekman Beer Garden, a newly christened venue at Beekman Street and South Street on the north side of Pier 17. Among the bands playing: cucumber-cool revivalists The Raveonettes (above, their "Love In A Trashcan"), live wires Xray Eyeballs, and Boston dreampop stalwarts Swirlies. The shows, which begin at 3 p.m. are free, although you have to be 21 or older to get in. Full lineup as it stands now after the jump.

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In Waste Of Paint, our writer/artist team of Jamie Peck and Debbie Allen will review goings-on about town in words and images.

As New York problems go, this is not a bad one to have: there was so much good stuff going on Friday night that we wished we could clone ourselves. The Babies and Times New Viking at the Knitting Factory! Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles at Glasslands! Some weird stuff with loops at Monster Island Basement! The solution: Hop between all three venues.

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photo by Sam Horine

Cassie Ramone
Resides: Williamsburg
Occupation: musician
Best CMJ moment: Playing Fader Fort with side-project the Babies
Favorite (non-CMJ?) band: Steely Dan

Cassie Ramone says hi. All photos by Georgia Kral.

The Babies, Pygmy Shrews, and Unnatural Helpers
Shea Stadium
Monday, August 30

It's been a year since the Babies begged listeners to meet them in the city. In the time that's passed since, songwriters Cassie Ramone and Kevin Morby have toured extensively and released new material with their main bands, Vivian Girls and Woods. Last night, though, the Babies headlined a gig at Shea Stadium--one more step in the band's evolution from side project to full fledged New York presence. Indeed, just after the show Force Field PR, which handles both Woods and Vivian Girls, tweeted: "full length soon via Shrimper, fyi."

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Oh, new the Babies track--"Breakin' the Law" is all kinds of vindication of a theory once advanced in these pages, namely that Vivian Girls frontlady Cassie Ramone and Woods bassist Kevin Morby "have a really appealing bad-karaoke rapport, not so much singing as cheerfully yelling at each other over half-assed garage pop," except this time around we might argue that the garage pop is at least a notch or two above half-assed. Ear of the beholder, obviously. One of all of three songs you can hear of theirs, pending the All Things Come to Pass 7", and our favorite so far. Hear it at the band's MySpace, or at Bowery Ballroom this Saturday, where they open for...Titus Andronicus. That kind of day over here, apparently. [h/t the Fader]

Same place awhile back. Possibly same outfit.

Real Estate/The Babies
Brooklyn Bowl
Tuesday, January 5

It's not until I explain to someone that tonight I'm going to see a band called Real Estate that I truly reflect on how ludicrous it is that a band called Real Estate exists. That is the anti-band-name to end all anti-band-names, a white flag of meekness, safety, profound boredom. Which suits these Jersey boys well, as they are the best really boring band I've seen in quite a while.

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As sponsored/put on by The Fader. Real Estate were sort of sleepy and affectless the last time we saw them but the Vivian Girls/Woods/Bossy combo project Babies tend to be a more lively affair. Plus it doesn't cost any money. Remember "Meet Me in the City"? Good song!

This past fourth of July saw the live debut of the Babies, a new band featuring Woods bassist Kevin Morby, Vivian Girls guitarist Cassie Ramone, and Bossy's Justin Sullivan on drums. Their abbreviated set at a Market Hotel afterparty was duly YouTubed and scrutinized for clues, despite the mildly inconvenient fact that the video was completely unintelligible. People still somehow hated it. Anyway, it turns out the song--if you could've called it that--that made the rounds was "All Things Come to Pass," one of two tracks the Babies have posted to a newly minted MySpace page. So far? We're riding for the other track, a pleasantly Plan-It-Xed and junked out pop song called "Meet Me In the City," mostly because of the backing vocals. A long time ago, Sullivan used to do this kind of thing with any number of now defunct Boston bands; glad to see he's back. Lest the sharks descend, now seems as good a time to remind our fair city of the strip club rule-- check the A/V equipment and/or scathing critiques at the door until the band has played at least two shows. We can do this.